Methane, more scary than we thought - Atheist Nexus2018-11-19T22:42:40Zhttp://atheistnexus.org/forum/topics/methane-more-scary-than-we-thought?groupUrl=environmentalatheists&commentId=2182797%3AComment%3A2766033&groupId=2182797%3AGroup%3A29029&feed=yes&xn_auth=noAquatic Ecosystem Ecologist…tag:atheistnexus.org,2018-09-25:2182797:Comment:28180022018-09-25T22:06:48.872ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/00FyFD15-5vT9xyGnkRIVbZiomjrnQHtU*BPgK0NHBQ1PFjORFe*p5IEXc96E8BhnpAfG*LLHgEdSrQWBY1KPtHxhuAStdlS/KateyWalterAnthony.jpg" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/00FyFD15-5vT9xyGnkRIVbZiomjrnQHtU*BPgK0NHBQ1PFjORFe*p5IEXc96E8BhnpAfG*LLHgEdSrQWBY1KPtHxhuAStdlS/KateyWalterAnthony.jpg" style="padding: 5px;" width="200"></img></a></p>
<p>Aquatic Ecosystem Ecologist Katey Walter Anthony, introduces a new Arctic lake phenomenon -- Esieh Lake emits methane much faster. </p>
<p><a href="http://ine.uaf.edu/werc/people/faculty/katey-walter-anthony/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">image source</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Esieh Lake is one of…</p>
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<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/00FyFD15-5vT9xyGnkRIVbZiomjrnQHtU*BPgK0NHBQ1PFjORFe*p5IEXc96E8BhnpAfG*LLHgEdSrQWBY1KPtHxhuAStdlS/KateyWalterAnthony.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/00FyFD15-5vT9xyGnkRIVbZiomjrnQHtU*BPgK0NHBQ1PFjORFe*p5IEXc96E8BhnpAfG*LLHgEdSrQWBY1KPtHxhuAStdlS/KateyWalterAnthony.jpg" width="200" class="align-left" style="padding: 5px;"/></a></p>
<p>Aquatic Ecosystem Ecologist Katey Walter Anthony, introduces a new Arctic lake phenomenon -- Esieh Lake emits methane much faster. </p>
<p><a href="http://ine.uaf.edu/werc/people/faculty/katey-walter-anthony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">image source</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Esieh Lake is one of several lakes scattered across the Arctic that never fully freezes due to its emission of methane gas from its lake bottom. After investigating the source of the methane, Anthony's team found that the source wasn't the soil, it was caches of fossil fuels—ancient organic material.</p>
<p>..., the continued growth of lakes like Esieh could double the amount of greenhouse gases coming from the Arctic by 2100. </p>
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<p><a href="https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/18887-climate-change-arctic-lakes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bubbling and Exploding Arctic Lakes Threaten To Make Climate Change Worse</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Esieh Lake looks different from thermokarst lakes, emitting gases faster.</p>
<p>Set against the austere peaks of the Western Brooks Range, the lake, <span style="background: yellow;">about 20 football fields in size, looked as if it was boiling. Its waters hissed, bubbled and popped</span> as a powerful greenhouse gas escaped from the lake bed. <span style="background: yellow;">Some bubbles grew as big as grapefruits, visibly lifting the water’s surface several inches and carrying up bits of mud from below.</span> This was methane. [emphasis mine]</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a23454924/methane-lakes-arctic-republicans-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Behold, Another Signal of the Coming Climate Apocalypse That Will Go Ignored by Half Our Political System</a></p> In other news, ESAS permafros…tag:atheistnexus.org,2018-08-28:2182797:Comment:28050252018-08-28T03:19:29.612ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p>In other news, ESAS permafrost melting up to 18 cm/yr.</p>
<blockquote><p>According to the model estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), until the end of the 21st century the degradation of permafrost in the ESAS cannot exceed several meters and the formation of through taliks will take hundreds or thousands of years that eliminates the opportunity of massive methane (CH4) emissions from the bottom sediments of the ESAS into water column - atmosphere system due to…</p>
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<p>In other news, ESAS permafrost melting up to 18 cm/yr.</p>
<blockquote><p>According to the model estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), until the end of the 21st century the degradation of permafrost in the ESAS cannot exceed several meters and the formation of through taliks will take hundreds or thousands of years that eliminates the opportunity of massive methane (CH4) emissions from the bottom sediments of the ESAS into water column - atmosphere system due to the destruction of hydrates. Thus the IPCC considers the potential contribution of the ESAS into the emissions of CH4 as insignificant. The paper shows that the model is not really correct. Basing on the repeated drilling of four wells performed by the Institute of Permafrost Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences in 1982-1983, scientists have proved that the rates of vertical degradation of subsea permafrost amount to 18 cm a year over the last 30 years (the average is 14 cm a year) which is greater than it was assumed before.</p>
<span>'New data obtained by complex biochemical, geophysical and geological studies conducted in 2011-2016 resulted in the conclusion that <span style="background: yellow;">in some areas of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf the roof of the subsea permafrost had already reached the depth of hydrates' stability</span> the destruction of which may cause massive releases of bubble methane.' [emphasis mine]</span></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/tpu-rsd081517.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russian scientists deny climate model of IPCC</a></p> Mars Today - A 'Business-As-U…tag:atheistnexus.org,2018-08-26:2182797:Comment:28049392018-08-26T22:16:44.516ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p><a href="http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/mars-today-a-business-as-usual-model-for-earth-tomorrow.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mars Today - A 'Business-As-Usual' Model for Earth Tomorrow</a><br></br> Dr. David Page claims that East Siberian Arctic Shelf models, which predict low probability of large scale release on Earth, "show little correspondence with reality." Geological evidence of a degassing event on Mars suggests that volatile gas reservoirs can undergo rapid emptying…</p>
<p><a href="http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/mars-today-a-business-as-usual-model-for-earth-tomorrow.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mars Today - A 'Business-As-Usual' Model for Earth Tomorrow</a><br/> Dr. David Page claims that East Siberian Arctic Shelf models, which predict low probability of large scale release on Earth, "show little correspondence with reality." Geological evidence of a degassing event on Mars suggests that volatile gas reservoirs can undergo rapid emptying when a pressure or temperature threshold is crossed.</p>
<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pLTeSPvc9H4/WtstruQSODI/AAAAAAAAYxk/FpFpF8F8lYo3OHoVKg_u_t_oOpO4Wn_7QCLcBGAs/s640/Arctic-news.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pLTeSPvc9H4/WtstruQSODI/AAAAAAAAYxk/FpFpF8F8lYo3OHoVKg_u_t_oOpO4Wn_7QCLcBGAs/s640/Arctic-news.jpg?width=450" width="450" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Mound explosions on Mars and Earth. Main) Dense cluster of exploded mounds at martian</i></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><i>equator, composite haloes<span> </span>around individual clusters indicating synchronous blasts.</i></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Explosions traceable continuously for 100s-of-km.<span> </span></i></p>
<blockquote>The 'plan-view' of the martian event exposed at the surface shows one explosion communicated to another and another, with mutual interference of blast-waves evident throughout. In this explosive degassing over 100s-of-km, Mars shows that once explosion begins it spreads, with local- to regional-scale synchrony.</blockquote>
<p>Dr Page criticizes in particular a 2015 paper by Archer which downplays Shakova's prediction of a 50 gigaton release from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. Archer omits mechanisms of gas release, then says the model gives no indication of such mechanims. Moreover the model's predicted methane flux has already been surpassed by actual readings 200 times higher.</p>
<blockquote><p>In questioning the abrupt 50 Gt Arctic-methane release proposed by Shakhova et al. (2010), Archer says that <em>"...A complex model is not really required to conclude that methane hydrate will probably not produce a methane eruption of this scale so quickly"</em>. Yet models (particularly the complex ones) are only as good as their base assumptions, and that regarding the methane flux in this region shows little correspondence with reality. There is thus <span style="background: yellow;">no support for the Conclusion</span> that <em>"...The model results give no indication of a mechanism by which methane emissions from the Siberian continental shelf could have a significant impact on the near-term evolution of Earth’s climate"</em> as the geological discontinuities that should be foremost in that mechanism are omitted from the model and the long-term CH₄-flux predictions of that model have no bearing to current, observed methane flux. </p>
<p>... devolatilisation appears to be limited only by volatile availability and to run to completion once initiated. As such, the proposed &lt; 5% (50 Gt) release from ESAS may be highly conservative. [emphasis mine]</p>
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<p>In short, just because previous interglacials did not support the methane gun hypothesis, doesn't mean it's invalid. Previous interglacials were followed by re-glaciation before a Mars-like degassing event could be triggered. This time humans have already delayed that at least a thousand years, our danger is real, and <strong>Shakhova's warning is "highly conservative"</strong>.</p> Fire reductions 'make methane…tag:atheistnexus.org,2018-01-05:2182797:Comment:27878862018-01-05T22:54:01.827ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42555568" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Fire reductions 'make methane numbers add up'</a></p>
<p>Wildfires have been going down globally, it seems, despite the recent fires in North America, Europe, and Russia, because agriculture replaced wild lands. And since fires release methane, the decrease has masked increases from other sources.</p>
<blockquote><p>The area of the planet burned each year decreased by about 12% between the early…</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42555568" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fire reductions 'make methane numbers add up'</a></p>
<p>Wildfires have been going down globally, it seems, despite the recent fires in North America, Europe, and Russia, because agriculture replaced wild lands. And since fires release methane, the decrease has masked increases from other sources.</p>
<blockquote><p>The area of the planet burned each year decreased by about 12% between the early 2000s and the more recent period of 2007 to 2014, according to satellite observations.</p>
<p>Dr Worden’s team calculates that 17 teragrams per year of the methane increase in the atmosphere is due to fossil fuels, another 12 is coming from wetlands or rice farming, while fires are decreasing by about 4 teragrams per year.</p>
<p>The three numbers combine to 25 teragrams a year – the same as the observed increase.</p>
</blockquote> Lakes could be significant pr…tag:atheistnexus.org,2017-11-24:2182797:Comment:27800732017-11-24T23:38:07.541ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p><a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/environment_lakes-could-be-significant-producers-of-methane/43692846" target="_blank">Lakes could be significant producers of methane</a></p>
<p>A new study of <span>Lake Hallwil discovered a new, overlooked, methane-production phenomenon. Instead of coming from anaerobic bottom sediment, 90% of methane produced was coming from the oxygen-rich well-mixed top 5 meters. So far they're not exactly sure of the mechanism, offering several…</span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/environment_lakes-could-be-significant-producers-of-methane/43692846" target="_blank">Lakes could be significant producers of methane</a></p>
<p>A new study of <span>Lake Hallwil discovered a new, overlooked, methane-production phenomenon. Instead of coming from anaerobic bottom sediment, 90% of methane produced was coming from the oxygen-rich well-mixed top 5 meters. So far they're not exactly sure of the mechanism, offering several hypotheses.</span></p>
<blockquote><b><span>Lakes and freshwater systems account for over 20% of all methane emissions into the atmosphere – much more than previously estimated, according to scientists at the University of Geneva </span></b><p>“<span style="background: yellow;">Something huge is going on in the surface water, and nobody has been paying attention to it so far</span>,” said study co-author Daniel McGinnis. A similar phenomenon has been reported in the surface of the oceans but on a smaller scale, about 1,000 times lower. [emphasis mine]</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/image/43692792/3x2/640/426/88c6f4b9827901194bab3ad1f77a91eb/ex/247911030-jpg.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.swissinfo.ch/image/43692792/3x2/640/426/88c6f4b9827901194bab3ad1f77a91eb/ex/247911030-jpg.jpg?width=400" width="400" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span>Stirring up the methane in Lake Hallwil</span></p>
</blockquote> We may be grossly under-acco…tag:atheistnexus.org,2017-11-20:2182797:Comment:27797612017-11-20T22:00:30.477ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<blockquote><p><span> We may be grossly under-accounting for methane in our existing climate models.</span></p>
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<p><a href="https://news.osu.edu/news/2017/11/20/paradoxum/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Researchers pin down one source of a potent greenhouse gas</a></p>
<p>We thought that all methane-generating microbes required anaerobic conditions. Enter <em>Candidatus</em> <span>Methanothrix paradoxum</span>.…</p>
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<blockquote><p><span> We may be grossly under-accounting for methane in our existing climate models.</span></p>
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<p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://news.osu.edu/news/2017/11/20/paradoxum/" target="_blank">Researchers pin down one source of a potent greenhouse gas</a></p>
<p>We thought that all methane-generating microbes required anaerobic conditions. Enter <em>Candidatus</em> <span>Methanothrix paradoxum</span>.</p>
<blockquote><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://news.osu.edu/assets/uploads/kelly_wrighton.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://news.osu.edu/assets/uploads/kelly_wrighton.jpg" class="align-left"/></a>... <span> 80 percent of the methane in the wetland under study came from oxygenated soils. The microbe’s habitat extends from the deepest parts of a wetland, which are devoid of oxygen, all the way to surface soils.</span> </p>
<p><span>“We’ve always assumed that oxygen was toxic to all methanogens,” said </span><a rel="nofollow" href="https://u.osu.edu/microbe/people/">Kelly Wrighton</a><span>, project leader and professor of </span><a rel="nofollow" href="https://microbiology.osu.edu/">microbiology</a><span> at Ohio State. “That assumption is so far entrenched in our thinking that global climate models simply don’t allow for methane production in the presence of oxygen. Our work shows that this way of thinking is outdated, and we may be grossly under-accounting for methane in our existing climate models.”</span></p>
<p><span><span>"The researchers found traces of Candidatus Methanothrix paradoxum in more than 100 sites across North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The organism lives in rice paddies, wetlands and peatlands—even as far north as the Arctic. It just hadn’t been cataloged before, and its unusual metabolism hadn’t been discovered."</span></span></p>
</blockquote> Thanks for the update!
What's…tag:atheistnexus.org,2017-09-12:2182797:Comment:27660332017-09-12T21:16:15.674ZGrinning Cathttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/GrinningCat
<p>Thanks for the update!</p>
<p>What's Gazprom's / Russia's official line on climate change? We know that US fossil fuel companies have been manufacturing doubt for decades (just like tobacco companies did with lung cancer and other dangers of smoking) at the same time that they recognized reality by, for instance, raising their offshore drilling platforms.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update!</p>
<p>What's Gazprom's / Russia's official line on climate change? We know that US fossil fuel companies have been manufacturing doubt for decades (just like tobacco companies did with lung cancer and other dangers of smoking) at the same time that they recognized reality by, for instance, raising their offshore drilling platforms.</p> Update on methane craters.
V…tag:atheistnexus.org,2017-09-12:2182797:Comment:27660292017-09-12T20:35:57.876ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p>Update on methane craters. </p>
<p><a href="http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/video-shows-methane-leaking-from-beneath-an-arctic-river-after-spectacular-eruption/" target="_blank">Video shows methane leaking from beneath an Arctic river after spectacular eruption</a></p>
<p><a href="http://siberiantimes.com/PICTURES/OTHERS/Bubbling-lakes-yamal/12.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="http://siberiantimes.com/PICTURES/OTHERS/Bubbling-lakes-yamal/12.jpg?width=400" width="400"></img></a></p>
<p>It seems only the pingos on the Yamal and Taimyr peninsulas explode, and sometimes erupt into…</p>
<p>Update on methane craters. </p>
<p><a href="http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/video-shows-methane-leaking-from-beneath-an-arctic-river-after-spectacular-eruption/" target="_blank">Video shows methane leaking from beneath an Arctic river after spectacular eruption</a></p>
<p><a href="http://siberiantimes.com/PICTURES/OTHERS/Bubbling-lakes-yamal/12.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://siberiantimes.com/PICTURES/OTHERS/Bubbling-lakes-yamal/12.jpg?width=400" width="400" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>It seems only the pingos on the Yamal and Taimyr peninsulas explode, and sometimes erupt into flames. This is the first I'd heard that Gazprom punctures pingos to release methane, to avoid explosions.</p>
<blockquote><span>He believes that the phenomenon is 'unique' the geological conditions on the Yamal and Taimyr peninsulas, where. </span>'We now know that these objects form when there is a coincidence of a thick layer of permafrost and thick sedimentary cover of 3.5 to 5 kilometres,' he said. <p><span>'This is why we can observe pingos in Yakutia or Alaska, but they do not explode.'</span></p>
<p><span>Such 'degassing' is happening in many locations but uneven thawing in permafrost regions means methane is not released evenly and can collect in pockets, eventually exploding. </span></p>
<p><span>'Strong degassing is occurring in the Arctic,' he said.</span></p>
<p><span>'But what we have just seen is a drop in the ocean of this global degassing of subsoil.'</span></p>
<p><span>'I know that oil and gas producing companies have maps of such objects and monitor them constantly. </span></p>
<p><span>'I have heard that for example Gazprom-Dobycha Yamburg make punctures and release gas to avoid eruption risk. </span></p>
<p><span>'When I was working at VNIIGAZ, I made a map of such objects for Gazprom.'</span></p>
<p><span>He said: 'The companies are very interested in minimising risks, they do not need any accidents, so they make maps and observe these objects very closely.</span></p>
<p><span>A second new crater - also formed this year - was created after an explosion on bulging ground around 500 km north of the town of Salekhard. </span></p>
<p><span>'This plot of land was absolutely flat just two years ago,' he said. </span></p>
<p><span>'A year ago in 2016 it bulged and we could see that soil has cracked there.'</span></p>
</blockquote> Ruth, you provide us with a v…tag:atheistnexus.org,2017-07-16:2182797:Comment:27566332017-07-16T19:27:07.075ZJoan Denoohttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/JoanDenoo
<p>Ruth, you provide us with a vivid image of your feelings. There are still those who do not understand how serious this is. The child imbeded in these flames clearly shows terror, too late. The father and the <span>scientists speaks from knowledge; people don't hear, or don't care, or don't understand the significance before the explosion. </span></p>
<p><span>My guess is our soils and forest will dry up as will the grasslands and all make fine material for fire. We have a new one brewing…</span></p>
<p>Ruth, you provide us with a vivid image of your feelings. There are still those who do not understand how serious this is. The child imbeded in these flames clearly shows terror, too late. The father and the <span>scientists speaks from knowledge; people don't hear, or don't care, or don't understand the significance before the explosion. </span></p>
<p><span>My guess is our soils and forest will dry up as will the grasslands and all make fine material for fire. We have a new one brewing just north of us in British Columbia.</span></p>
<p><span><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.emergencyinfobc.gov.bc.ca" target="_blank">BC Wildfire Evacuation Orders July 15, 2017</a></span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/3601702/b-c-wildfires-evacuation-order-issues-for-williams-lake/" target="_blank">B.C. wildfires: Evacuation order issued for Williams Lake</a> </span></p>
<div class="fe-embed-caption"><p><span>"Sat, Jul 15: Fire Crews across B.C. are bracing themselves for the worst as the stormy weather predicted for this weekend has started to move through. Strong winds have already had an impact on some communities. Now an evacuation order has been ordered for the Williams Lake. Sophie Lui has more."</span></p>
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<p><span>The last I heard, Patricia lives in Williams Lake, BC. You might remember her as the "Purple Lady" with purple hats, clothes, and wheelchair.</span></p>
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<p></p> When I read estimates like th…tag:atheistnexus.org,2017-07-16:2182797:Comment:27566322017-07-16T18:43:41.608ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p>When I read estimates like this of how delicate is the stability of our planet's habitability, I feel as if scientists are like a Dad, telling his 3-year old son not to touch the blowtorch trigger in his hand, and 99.9% of adults are ignoring a warning they don't comprehend like that about-to-immolate himself kid.…</p>
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<p>When I read estimates like this of how delicate is the stability of our planet's habitability, I feel as if scientists are like a Dad, telling his 3-year old son not to touch the blowtorch trigger in his hand, and 99.9% of adults are ignoring a warning they don't comprehend like that about-to-immolate himself kid.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/QJklQVoxwAtFP1Ama8Ga27gx1PaqhjRvNDCEJSa3NLnTkWSvQe3A9vVu4agj4sAdKkoL1gdB13yrXiJTXh23wytjelHdsho7/3yearoldsall.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/QJklQVoxwAtFP1Ama8Ga27gx1PaqhjRvNDCEJSa3NLnTkWSvQe3A9vVu4agj4sAdKkoL1gdB13yrXiJTXh23wytjelHdsho7/3yearoldsall.jpg" width="400" class="align-center"/></a></p>